Potty Training Help - Huntington Beach,CA

R....
I have 3 boys (2 potty trained) and I had a hard time with my eldest pretty much the same thing. He did #1 no problem but wasn't doing #2 until about 6mos later. It was a rough time. He would pee in the potty and hold his poop and hide out in the corner to do it. I tried everything!!! Then one day, he told me he need to go to the potty and pooped in it! It was amazing!! I did nothing to get him to do this, he just wanted it on his own. I guess being ready for it was the best thing for him.
I didn't do the pull up once he was doing the #1 in the toilet... He would just make accidents in his underwear and I think that made him more uncomfortable. Dunno if this will help, but hopefully this will make it easier on you... Don't stress, This happens to a lot of people and he'll learn soon!!!
Good Luck!

You have probably already checked this but something medical like a Urinary tract infection can make it really painful to use the bathroom (therefore making the bathroom and negative place) and to control your bladder. Same goes with the #2 problem. Is he constipated? Has he eaten something that has been bothering his stomach?

My son is about 28 months, so I've just begun the potty training thing. I haven't yet been able to get him to go poo-poo in the potty, but if I let him walk around like a "nakey boy" (nothing on down there) he'll hold all of it for HOURS! He will pee in underwear, but hasn't (yet) pooped in them. If he's peeing in the potty just fine, you may want to try putting him in regular "Big Boy" undies. Let him know that "starting tomorrow (or next week, whenever), we will only use diapers for naps or going to bed. Now that we're big boys, we need to use our big boy underwear."

You could also incorporate a rewards system for keeping the undies/ pull-up/ diaper clean and dry. I like how my friend does rewards with her 3 kids. She uses baby food jars with marbles (They each have their own). For every day they complete the thing they do on their “List if Responsible Choices” they get to put a marble in the jar; but, for every TIME they make irresponsible choices, one is removed from the jar. I think she said it’s roughly 20 marbles to fill the jars she’s using. That means it take AT LEAST 3 weeks to fill the jar, but an almost full jar could be emptied in just 1 day. Her kids range in age from 3 (almost) to 10. All 3 have their own list. When they have filled their jar, she lets them choose to either go buy one thing at Dollar Tree, or go on a “Date” with mom or Grandma. You might make the reward "choosing your own undies!" I have just started trying this with my son, but he doesn’t quite understand it all yet. At ALMOST 4, I’m sure he’ll understand the process. Good luck, -J

Dear R.,

Try giving him a dried prune to eat, yeah, I know you are saying yuck. Tell him it is candy fruit, and just give him one half because they are hard to bit into sometimes. You eat one too so that he will. You can get them in a plastic bag in the dried fruit department and they are usually nice and soft in a sort of pouch package. You don't need too many, in fact just give him two halves. It will make him have a nice smooth bowel movement and maybe he will pass the feces a bit more easily . I don't know why kids get so funny about their bowel movements about that age, but they do. So your son is normal. C. N.

Pooping can be such a control issue w/some kids. I have 2 boys - 6.5 years & almost 2 years. Our older son was slower to poop in the potty but that's cuz it didn't quite connect w/him. My advice is,& I'm sure you dont' want to hear this, he'll do it when he's ready & the more you try to push him, the more he won't. Just be sure he's getting enough fiber & liquids so that he doesn't get constipated. Maybe having him help clean up his poopy pants in some way will help him stop doing it. Our friends did this...their son was 4 & still not potty trained at all! So, they told him, in frustration, that he was too old for pull-ups & peeing & pooping his pants & left him wipes & clean clothes & that from now on, he'd have to clean it up himself. Well, it worked, pretty quickly, too! I think this was a bit harsh but I can understand their frustration. My nephew did the same thing....only poopy in the pull-ups but had it in his head that when he turned 4, he'd do it in the potty & that's what he did. There were a couple of years of pain & consipation but it all stopped on his 4th b-day! Kids are funny little creatures & have their own thoughts on things & sometimes, as all parents know, just can't be swayed! Good luck!

Hello,
Don't give up hope. My son is 3 1/2 years old and he is finally using the toilet for both 1 & 2. He would only go pee on the toilet for the longest time, but poop was a different story. What we did was take off his pull-ups and let him go around the house nude, well one day I notice he was holding his butt and kept saying I need a diaper. Well that was the clue he had to go poop and I put him on the toilet and I just told him to let it come out and you will feel better. I asked if he didn't privacy or if he wanted me to be there for him. The first time he let me stay in there, but now it's "give me privacy mom." This was just the beginning of April. Now he goes on the toilet. I hope this helps in some way. I've heard they'll do it when they are ready. Good Luck!! Annette M.